125 Montana PBS issues

[comfortably_numb]

I've had my 76cm roof dish pointed to 125 for some time now. The Montana PBS transponder 11917 V 2398 seems to be the stronger of the active transponders on this satellite (the other being 12181 V 30000 of course).

Once I peak 12181 V 30000, I get video choppiness on Montana PBS, even with my receiver showing full signal.

It's almost like I can't peak them both to a happy medium; it's one or the other. I've found a "sweet spot compromise" where the choppiness on Montana PBS is minimal, but I can't seem to eliminate it completely without hurting the PQ on the national PBS feeds.

Is this a common issue on this satellite?

 

[KE4EST]

To be honest I have not seen this, but I have had a 1.2M dedicated dish on 125 for years now. Perhaps others can chime in. What do you mean by full signal? Quality is what you need to be watching.

 

[comfortably_numb]

To be honest I have not seen this, but I have had a 1.2M dedicated dish on 125 for years now. Perhaps others can chime in. What do you mean by full signal? Quality is what you need to be watching.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I mean I’m getting 90% signal quality for Montana on the HD.265 receiver (which seems to be the highest signal quality reading that unit will display for any transponder).

 

[Magic Static]

Have you tried tweaking the LNBF skew?

 

[Phalaenopsis]

I’m getting 70%Q on Montana PBS and 74%Q on the national PBS feeds with an Amiko MiniHD RE and a Wineguard 76cm. I never experienced any choppiness on all the PBS feeds. Maybe try a different dish?

 

[comfortably_numb]

Have you tried tweaking the LNBF skew?

Yes... I’ve also noticed this issue on 103, with regards to the NBC DVB-S2 feeds. I’d peak for one of their transponders, only to see another one drop in quality. Maybe it’s just the nature of the beast?

 

[comfortably_numb]

I’m getting 70%Q on Montana PBS and 74%Q on the national PBS feeds with an Amiko MiniHD RE and a Wineguard 76cm. I never experienced any choppiness on all the PBS feeds. Maybe try a different dish?

I might swap out the dish I use for 87 with the one currently pointed at 125 and see what happens. Good suggestion

 

[Brct203]

in my experience, that difference of peak is usually explained by interference from an adjacent satellite and a dish that is a bit small. At 76cm, the beam width is wider than on a 120cm for example, and you might be picking up some signal from 123W or 127W. I had noticed the same when receiving 95W with an undersized dish, I would peak CCTV and lose the Phoenix channels or vice versa, because one of them was getting interference from 97W (and the other wasn't). That interference from 97 would subside if i aimed a bit east of 95 but then i would start losing signal from 95 too.
take a look at the spectrum of 125, 123 and 127 on satsignature and check if there's anything on 123 or 127 that overlaps the transponders of interest on 125

 

[comfortably_numb]

in my experience, that difference of peak is usually explained by interference from an adjacent satellite and a dish that is a bit small. At 76cm, the beam width is wider than on a 120cm for example, and you might be picking up some signal from 123W or 127W. I had noticed the same when receiving 95W with an undersized dish, I would peak CCTV and lose the Phoenix channels or vice versa, because one of them was getting interference from 97W (and the other wasn't). That interference from 97 would subside if i aimed a bit east of 95 but then i would start losing signal from 95 too.
take a look at the spectrum of 125, 123 and 127 on satsignature and check if there's anything on 123 or 127 that overlaps the transponders of interest on 125

This make sense to me, especially based on what others have said here about DVB-S2 feeds requiring larger and larger dishes. In my case, with a 90cm dish fixed on 103, I only rarely experience issues with NBC transponders. Makes sense that a 76cm dish on 125 might give me issues with interference.

 

[etlam34]

I’ve got 85% quality on 11916 and 83%-85% quality on 12180 on a 1.2m using freesat v7.

My dish is on a wood post and sometimes the wind messes up my signal. I’ve tied it down with bungee cords. It helps a little but everytime i go back to adjust the signal i have a green bar on my screen that shows I have a lock on the signal , but if i try to tweak it and loose the lock, the signal bar becomes red and goes down to 0 , then it comes back red and flashing even though my signal is back on. I check my signal with 2 iphones using facetime or I use my sathero meter if everything is messed up outside. When I go back to the receiver i have to exit the install menu , go back to the channels and everything is ok again.

Same for NBC on 103. I have a geosatpro 36” with pll lnb and i get 72% even though the sathero displays 60% on both 11880 and 11760. If I peak the max signal on 11941 to about 83% i lose nbc.

97w is just weird. I have a 36” with invacom lnb the max signal i get is 80% on 11867, everything else is between 50% to 65% , the lowest one is 12177 at 48-50%. The new dvbs2 tp at 12183 has 69-72%.

 

[comfortably_numb]

The new dvbs2 tp at 12183 has 69-72%.

I wasn't aware 97 had any DVB-S2 transponders. What channel(s) are on it?

 

[Cham]

12183 H 22500 DVB-S2 8psk
Two H264 (MP4) channels, Al Kass and Oman HD.

Galaxy 19/Ku 97.1W 2629 TBS 6903 DVBS/S2 Tuner 0 12183 Horizontal 22496.131 8PSK 2/3 DVB-S2 ON 0.20 Inverted CCM 44.565 26.995, 9.4dB S/N, -41 MIS: 0, BER: 0.0000000, Time to lock: 338 ms 2018-05-23 12:34:31 PM

This is using a CM 84E dish.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I have solid copper coax running from the 125 dish on the roof to the switch location (75 feet) then it’s another 50 feet of solid copper coax to the ground block at the entry of the building. Could that 125 feet of distance cause the signal distortion?

Just trying to rule out all other possibilities before I climb up there and start yanking stuff down to swap dishes

 

[KE4EST]

Could that 125 feet of distance cause the signal distortion?

Highly unlikely, with your choice of good coax. Unless you and using crappy connectors, or connectors that were not properly installed.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Highly unlikely, with your choice of good coax. Unless you and using crappy connectors, or connectors that were not properly installed.

My fittings were all factory terminated, and I’m using the Amiko 8x1 splitter. Sounds like a dish swap is in order.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Unfortunately the dish I had pointed at 125 won't fit on the pole I have set up for the dish pointed at 87 (the Winegard), so swapping is a no-go for now. The choppiness on Montana PBS isn't too bad for now, so I'm going to leave it as-is. I've decided I need to be happy with my setup for awhile and stop tweaking it. I feel like I've accomplished more than I expected to when I started this project, so that's a good feeling.

 

[Titanium]

Does bypassing the DiSEqC 8x1 help? You can use every ounce of signal with a low SNR to start with...

 

[comfortably_numb]

Does bypassing the DiSEqC 8x1 help? You can use every ounce of signal with a low SNR to start with...

I can definitely give that a try tonight

 

[TRG]

I've had my 76cm roof dish pointed to 125 for some time now. The Montana PBS transponder 11917 V 2398 seems to be the stronger of the active transponders on this satellite (the other being 12181 V 30000 of course).

Once I peak 12181 V 30000, I get video choppiness on Montana PBS, even with my receiver showing full signal.

It's almost like I can't peak them both to a happy medium; it's one or the other. I've found a "sweet spot compromise" where the choppiness on Montana PBS is minimal, but I can't seem to eliminate it completely without hurting the PQ on the national PBS feeds.

Is this a common issue on this satellite?

I have the same problem on a 90cm dish finely tuned on 125w. I've pretty much given up on Montana PBS and focus on the E and W feeds on 12180. A few years ago MPBS had what they called "Britcomms" on Saturday nights followed by the Red Green Show. They still have one hour of British comedies on Saturday night but thats it. I can typically get those on my local OTA station. For me the problem started when they went to DVB S2. The picture would freeze up and stutter while the signal quality bounced up and down. 11916 was the only transponder I had problems with so its possible that its an interference problem from an adjacent satellite. I might try scanning it in when I get home tonight just for grins. So yes, I have experienced the same phenomenon as you with the peaking of MPBS being off from the rest of the transponders on 125W. I have been contemplating the purchase of a 1.2m dish for a while now. But the shipping cost has always been prohibitive.

 

[Phalaenopsis]

I haven’t seen any stuttering on my 76cm Wineguard. My Q for Montana PBS is 72% and for the E&W feeds it’s 77%